WATCH: This Is Why Hawkeye Leaves His Family in ‘Civil War’

When we last saw Clint Barton/Hawkeye at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron last year, he had departed to return to his wife and kids (including brand-new son, Nathaniel Pietro) and get on with the business of living his recently-exposed stable, domestic life.

Yet here we are only 12 months later, and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is suiting up again. However this time he isn’t necessarily an Avenger as he’s joining the blue team in Captain America: Civil War. Now while many of us can come up with any number of reasons to return to the fold with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (including but not limited to badass weaponry, superpowers, inevitable adventure, the struggle of good vs evil, hot people everywhere)–Hawkeye seemed pretty content to settle down and keep the home fires burning. What his deal?

Renner shared his thoughts on his alter ego’s motivation while stopping for a red carpet interview with Marvel UK & Ireland during the Civil War premiere in London:

“I think it’s a good idea but maybe in practicality, maybe not so much. I think golf got a little boring for him,” Renner explained at the Captain America: Civil War European premiere. “He had to repay a debt to Scarlet Witch, and Cap called in need. So, you know, he came out of retirement. He had to.”

Though if you prefer to hear Renner’s words in his own dulcet tones, you can view the short video below via Twitter:

It’s easy to believe Hawkeye is dedicated to paying that debt to Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), likely for her twin brother, Quicksilver, having sacrificed his life to save Hawkeye’s in Age of Ultron. It’s also no stretch that he would rush to help Captain America in a time of great need. What is surprising, if not shocking, is that he’s apparently siding against his closest friend on the planet: Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Either they both have some pretty grave reasons that enable them to make such a tough decision, or there is more than meets the eye when it comes to their choosing between Team Cap and Team Iron Man, respectively.

As Captain America: Civil War hits theaters in the US on May 6 and the UK on April 28, the wait is nearly over to find out just what in the fondue is going on with these Avengers.

Denise Heard-Bashur

<p>Managing editor for GeekFeed.com living in the desolation of the west Texas desert. Proud mom, photo editor by day, former film major, MCU maven. Founder of the Free Snowpiercer & Free Loki campaigns. Also hung up on LOTR, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Outlander, Friends, and cinema in general. Good, bad…it’s all awesome. I’m a firm believer that if you haven’t read the book yet, see the movie first. Saves on tons of disappointment and spoilers. SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!</p>